And me …87/88
After Elena Rybakina was oddly curtailed off the most match wins this season list by the Indian Wells Open (BNP Paribas Open) social media admin, they received direct response for another missing stat by the man who they missed in Boris Becker.
After his 2024 Indian Wells victory, Alcaraz joined an illustrious list including Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer in winning back-to-back Indian Wells titles. They highlighted the other players who were successful in their title defence in Djokovic (2014, 2015, 2016) and Federer (2004, 2005, 2006) for instance. However Becker wasn't left best pleased with a simple reply.
Becker won his maiden Indian Wells title back in 1987 by defeating Stefan Edberg in the final. He successfully defended his title in 1988 by defeating Emilio Sanchez. But it seems that in the case of Indian Wells, it was scrubbed from their minds. He wrote: "And me...87/88" in response to the now deleted tweet.
The Tennis Letter also came under fire for saying that he was the second player in history to have won at least Five Masters 1000 titles before turning 21, Nadal being the first. Becker questioned whether his records were taken into consideration which opens up a whole debate. "Hold on… Did you check my record before I turned 21 ?!?" the six-time Grand Slam champion questioned.
This debate is there as Becker technically won six titles on the Grand Prix tennis circuit before turning 2021, not the since formed ATP which now has the Masters series.
And me …87/88